21 April 2011

pull the rudder one

with the boat rapidly becoming swiss cheese, the time came to finally drop that rudder and replace the bearings.

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easier said than done.
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first a hole had to be dug and with most jobs like this, there is always a foreman, a tea boy and a grafter.
I opted for being the tea boy, my dad stood propping his hands on his hips making sure the job went to plan and Mr X did the digging, because, as a building site labourer, he said "Im used to it"
I did the blagging part, as tea boy, and went over to the local builders who are currently constructing a new toilet block and laundry facility for the marina and begged for a spade.

I did wonder if I should ask first before starting to dig up part of the marina, but decided to just get on with it, asking questions shows doubt in ones mind. Doubt, is a sign of weakness and the last thing I want to show anyone right now is any kind of weakness. When it comes to DIFY, I need to keep a clear mind as to what I want, when and how Im going to do it.
Having secured the use of a spade, I quietly retired to camera duties (as well as putting the kettle on.)

with the rudder released, next came the bearing. It was glued in with a resin type of glue, araldite or something like that. It needed cutting and hammering and a bit of persuading to come out.
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The last skin fitting was ready to come out after a little bit of preparation with some high prescision tooling.
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the new skin fittings are in 316 stainless
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The rudder is a sorry looking thing. A bronze collar has caused galvanic corrosion of the aluminium stock. Its not looking too pretty.
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further investigation reveals the extent of the corrosion.
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Im not exactly sure what Im going to do next. possibly retire to my chamber to contemplate my options.

hmm.